Although their companies continue to spend money on many different aspects of e-business, corporate managers see less promise in the Internet than they did a year ago, according to a report released Wednesday by the Yankee Group.

"Over the past year, the perception of Internet business has swung from oneextreme to another, from the extremely positive to the extremely negative,"said the report, which stems from an annual survey of companies that dobusiness on the Internet.

I think it's important to look at the title of this article and see that "executives" give the web a thumbs down. Well, if the web doesn't produce the right profits within the right frame of time it's going to get a thumbs down. That's all an executive is going to care about. If all the changes everyone talks about are made properly I guarantee executives will give the web a thumbs up. The web is too dynamic right now for anyone who can only communicate in terms of dollar signs.

The previous post is right on the money...too many e-commerce sites just don't get it. Most folks could give a rip about all the bells and whistles; they just want to find what they're looking for, get some info, and get on with it. If the site is poorly laid out, difficult to navigate, and/or badly maintained, the customer is going to look elsewhere. Web pages are like rooms, and who's going to shop where they have to wander around through five or ten rooms to find what they want? Leave the flash for the entertainment sites and get down to business.

I feel that as a normal human instinct, people do want to touch and feel the goods/services before they buy anything online they haven't come across before. As a result, strong advertising and brand image helps a lot to online sellers compared to unbranded items.

I have used the web many times to read information on a particular product, shop for prices and compare it to other similar products. Once I made a decision I go to the store and buy it. The success of a web site can not be measured just by the number of sales you make on-line.

Retailers need to understand that the people who shop online value time. I recently tried to purchase a small kitchen table online. Unfortunately, the furnishing sites all told me to go into the store to see more selection. On my way to the first, I passed a furniture outlet store. They got my business.

Why is business not that good on the net? Poorly designed websites. Designed by tekkis rather than sales people. Not designed with a logical sequence, clever misleading copy that is incomplete. Unwillingness to take checks. Company's real name and address hidden and difficulty in calling them. It will all change as time goes on. Brooks Alden